Saint Peters University Nursing Program Review

Saint Peter’s University (SPU), previously known as Saint Peters College (SPC),  was established in 1872 as a liberal arts college known as Jesuit College of New Jersey; a men’s only college.  In 1918, the college closed down due to the effects of WW I. When it re-opened in 1930, it started admitting its first female students.  It holds strong to its founding Jesuit Tradition and is as such strongly supported by the catholic faith.  The college offers undergraduate, graduate, adult, and doctoral programs academic programs from the main campus at Jersey City and the satellite campus in Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County. SPC gained university designation in 2012.

Nursing Programs at Saint Peters College

Saint Peters College offers nursing programs ranging from undergraduate to terminal degrees.  At undergraduate level, there two nursing programs: one for entry level students and a completion program for adult learners. The graduate degrees include two Master of Science in nursing (MSN) tracks, post-Master’s Certificate options and a doctor of practice in nursing (DNP) program.  There is also a registered nurse (RN) to MSN Bridge program for registered nurses who do not wish to take the Baccalaureate prior to the MSN. All graduate programs are offered at the Englewood Cliffs campus while the entry level track is offered at the main campus. All programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Undergraduate Programs

At undergraduate level, SPC has an entry-level option for candidates with no prior nursing experience and another option for registered nurses (RN).  On a further note, there are 3 entry options for the RN to Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN).

RN to BSN

This program is designed for registered nurses who have valid and current RN licenses.  It is an upper-division curriculum that enables RN from associate or diploma programs to earn baccalaureate nursing degree. The required curriculum of a BSN degree at SPC is 121 credits but RNs can transfer most of their lower division and general education courses towards the BSN.

This program is offered only at the Englewood Cliff Campus (in Bergen County) but students can choose from three progression options listed below. All tracks carry the same coursework and only differ in the mode of curriculum delivery

  • Evening Program of Eight-week Sessions
  • Nurse Express Track offered only on Tuesdays (Students study in cohorts)
  • Exclusive Online Program

Generic BSN Program

The generic Bachelor of Science in nursing track is designed for entry-level recent high school candidates and transfer students from pre-nursing programs.  It is offered on a full time basis only at the Jersey City (Hudson County) campus. Candidates must complete a TEAS V test prior to admission. After enrollment, students acquire a pre-nursing status for the entire freshman year during which they take pre-nursing courses.  Scores obtained from the pre-nursing year determines whether the student will be eligible to apply, at the sophomore year, for the Generic BSN program.

Once accepted into the school of nursing for the BSN, students can then start on nursing courses. The program takes a total of four academic years of 8 semesters to complete the 121 credits curriculum including the pre-nursing component. Upon completion, a bachelor of science in nursing is awarded and graduates become eligible to apply and write the NCLEX-RN exam to become registered nurses.

Graduate and Doctoral Programs

Master of Science in Nursing

The Master of Science in nursing program at SPC is offered only at Bergen County-Englewood Cliffs Campus.  The program offers BSN-prepared students two options to choose from at their MSN specialty:

  • Nurse Administrator
  • Adult Nurse Practitioner

On a further note, those who choose the nurse administrator track take case management as a functionality role while the adult nurse practitioner (ANP) students take adult primary care as their functionality role.  The ANP track requires 39 credits while the administrator track has a curriculum of 37 credits. All courses are offered onsite on a full time basis at the Englewood Cliffs campus.

RN to MSN Bridge Program

This program is specifically designed for registered nurses who have a bachelor degree in a non-nursing field. This program enables registered nurses to earn a MSN degree without having to complete a BSN first. To start with, registered nurses are tested on undergraduate nursing competence by completing 3 undergraduates courses in statistics, nursing research and a Bridge course are equivalent to 10 semester credits.

Upon successful completion of the competence tests, students become permitted to take the MSN courses. The two specialty areas and functional roles outlined above are the MSN options that students can choose ie:

  • Nursing Administration (Case Management)
  • Adult Nurse Practitioner (Adult Primary Care)

All courses are offered on site at Englewood Cliffs on a full time basis. However, interested candidates must note that no Bachelor of Science in nursing degree is offered upon completion, only the MSN.

Post-Master Certificate Program

The post-master’s certificate program is also offered along with other graduate nursing programs at the Englewood cliffs campus.  There is only one track: Post-Master’s Adult Nurse Practitioner Certificate. The curriculum consists of 25 credits offered on a full time- onsite mode for MSN-prepared registered nurses.

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Saint Peter’s College offers this terminal nursing degree from the Englewood campus on a part-time basis. The program is designed for MSN prepared nurses from nationally accredited nursing schools. Candidates for the program must be certified nurse practitioners or nurse administrators.

Two tracks are available for students to choose from:

– Nurse Executive/Administrative Role (Non-clinical/Indirect)

– Advance Practice Role (Clinical/ Direct)

For candidates interested in the executive/administrative track, they must have taken a similar MSN track at graduate level. Similarly, for the advanced practice clinical track, candidates must have graduated from a nurse practitioner or nurse specialist MSN program and must be in clinical practice at the time of application.

Each track carries a coursework of 39 semester credits with completion projected to be 3-3.5 academic years. Courses are offered in one evening per-week patterns on a part time basis only during the fall and spring semesters. Only one course is offered during the summer session.

Contact:
Saint Peters College
2641 John F Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City,
NJ 07306